


A Man Destined to Drown Can Never Burn

by airspaniel



Category: Sherlock (TV), Sherlock Holmes & Related Fandoms
Genre: 221B Ficlet, Character Death, Drowning, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-09-29
Updated: 2011-09-29
Packaged: 2017-10-24 03:58:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 221
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/258733
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/airspaniel/pseuds/airspaniel
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p><i>His hands are pinned uselessly behind his back, and John knows he's going to die.</i></p>
            </blockquote>





	A Man Destined to Drown Can Never Burn

**Author's Note:**

> For [](http://sherlock-ldws.livejournal.com/profile)[**sherlock_ldws**](http://sherlock-ldws.livejournal.com/) week three. Prompt: Major Character Death
> 
> Title by way of "Daniel Cowman," by Regina Spektor.

His chest spasms violently, painfully, and he knows he won't be able to hold his breath much longer. He kicks and twists, jerking against the tape around his wrists, his ankles, but there's no give. His hands are pinned uselessly behind his back, and John knows he's going to die.

He can barely see the orange flicker of streetlights above him, refracting and reflecting on the surface. It reminds him of the last time he was underwater - the flash of heat, Sherlock's shirt twisted in his hands, Sherlock's hands around his back, warm and close; the blast still ringing in his ears.

It's silent down here, and cold. He's never been so cold.

He's not afraid of death. Not since the first day he stepped out into the sweltering Afghan sun; the first time he felt a man bleed out, too hot and too fast over his hands. The day a bullet ripped through his flesh, leaving behind a rending pain like fire, and he had been _so sure_ that it was the end.

He had been wrong then. Not this time.

He blinks, and the lights flicker again. He thinks in fragments, in words like _cerebral hypoxia_ and _hypercapnia_ and _Christ, I'm sorry_ , but they hardly make sense to him.

John closes his eyes and stops trying not to breathe.


End file.
